Q: My mission is to explicate a Wallace Stevens poem.
I'd like to know: a) your opinion on the steps involved in explicating a poem; b) the definition of primary research; and c) where I can get information helping me understand, define and discuss the structure of a poem -- stanzas, length, why it rhymes or why it doesn't, etc.<<
A: This is an interesting topic, I think, because though poems often express familiar ideas, it is their special use of language, metaphor and rhythm that makes each one unique.
I'll answer c first. There's a fairly helpful appendix to the Norton Anthology called "Poetic Forms and Literary Terminology" that will give straightforward definitions of stanza, lines, meter, rhythm, etc. There's also examples of those terms so it's pretty easy to understand. I don't know if it will help you answer your question about why a poem rhymes or not, though. Whether a poem rhymes or not is usually up to the poet and any conventions he or she chooses to follow, like will the poem be a sonnet or whatever.
I don't know what the definition of primary research is. If you're researching terms, then go and look at the Norton appendix mentioned above. There's not really much else involved in explicating a poem, I don't think. It's a pretty personal thing, that is your philosophy or the one you espouse will guide your understanding of the poem. But don't let me stop you from looking for a definition just because I don't know it.
As for the steps involved, well, I've never thought about it in a step by step process. Go line by line, or foot by foot. You have to be able to look at the poem as a whole in relation to its individual units. How, for example, does the poem's rhythm relate to the theme. That just takes practice. It's always a good idea to get some sort of discussion group going to help you sort out what's happening in a poem. (Remember, the purpose of language is to communicate ideas subtly, without the reader being aware of the language at all, but poetry brings the language to the foreground so it is a part of the process of communication and not just the medium.)
So, using the terms outlined for you in Norton, take the poem apart and hold each part up against the whole poem--the theme or idea is usually what you hold it up against--and see how it relates.
